Before He Cheats
by AthenaMay24
Summary: Pepper goes to Natasha and Clint when she and Tony have relationship problems. Pepper and Tony are married; takes place after Iron Man Three (so obviously after The Avengers). Pepperoney and Clintasha. I own nothing.
1. Prologue

**A/N This is a Pepperoney fanfic, as requested by CrazyTrombonist251. I don't know why he didn't just write one himself. So Pepper and Tony are married, and living in Tony's Malibu house which has been repaired since Iron Man Three. This takes place after Iron Man Three, so obviously after The Avengers, too, but there won't be any spoilers since CrazyTrombonist251 hasn't seen IM3 yet. Please review! **

Prologue

Pepper watched her husband as he got ready for bed. She was worried about him. She has woken up alone three nights in a row. Tony had been having nightmares again, so he'd get up and go and mess around in the garage and leave her in bed. He'd always been back before sunrise, and she hadn't told him that she'd noticed until this morning. He'd promised not to leave tonight.

Tony wordlessly slid into bed next to her, breaking her out of her reverie. She smiled up at him, snuggled into his chest, and fell asleep to him stroking her hair.

Pepper had a nightmare of her own that night. She woke up alone.

~o0o~

Natasha awoke to a knocking on the front door. The knocking wasn't very loud, but of course it was enough for her to hear, even in the bedroom.

Disentangling herself from a very asleep Clint, she glanced at the clock. It was a little after one in the morning. Most dangerous people who would visit two master assassins at this time of night wouldn't be kind enough to knock. Still, she grabbed her gun from under the pillow (Clint slept on) as she went to open the door.

Pepper, a very hysterical Pepper, tumbled inside. "You're lucky I was half-sure it was you. Otherwise, you'd be dead," Nat told her friend as she led her to the couch. "Clint! Get your butt up! Now!" she yelled in the general direction of the bedroom. Nat's eyes took in her friend in an instant. The most noticeable (or significant, since you'd have to be a SHEILD level agent to notice it) was Pepper's lack of wedding ring. Natasha yelled for Clint again. If Pepper and Tony were having relationship trouble, she'd need back up.


	2. Chapter 1

Ch. 1

"Tony hasn't been sleeping well," Pepper began. She took a sip of the coffee Clint had handed her before he slipped into the guest bedroom. "For the past night or two, he waited until I was asleep, and then he disappeared. He would be back before dawn, but I still knew he was missing. When I asked about it, he said that he was having nightmares and went to the garage to tinker. He promised me this morning that he wouldn't leave anymore." She gave a bitter laugh, "Well, when I woke up, he was gone. So I went to the garage to look for him, but I heard him in the guest bedroom." Natasha sighed. She'd wanted to believe as much as Pepper had that Tony had changed. "I found him with one of his exes. He had her on top of the dresser, kissing her." Pepper took a shaky breath, "He saw me standing there, and caught up to me when I got to the front door. He asked me to let him explain, but I… I" she started crying again. Natasha really hoped Pepper wasn't upset because she left him. After a few more sips of coffee, Pepper finally got control enough to finish her story. "I asked him if that was where he'd been every night, if that's what he'd been doing. I asked how he could do that to me, right downstairs from our bedroom. I asked if he expected me to trust him ever again. I – I asked him if he even loved me. He gave me that puppy look, and I knew I had to leave. When I got to the door, I turned around and threw the ring at him. Hit him in the forehead." She looked at Nat with big brown eyes and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I'll go find a hotel or something. Thanks for listening." She tried to get up was pulled back down by a very angry Nat. (For the record, Natasha was angry at Tony, not Pepper)

"No you won't! You will stay here. Did you not see Clint making up the spare bedroom?" Nat patted Pepper's leg, "Don't worry. We'll take care of Tony. But right now, you need sleep." She took the cup from Pepper, "This had better be decaf."

Pepper gave her friend a watery smile, "Thanks Nat."

After Natasha coaxed Pepper into bed (which apparently worked on Clint too; the archer disappeared into their room at about the same time), she was washing the mugs, mulling things over (read as 'trying to keep herself from driving to Tony's house and killing him herself), when the phone rang. She knew it would be Tony calling. She'd figured, however, that he would've called way earlier, though.

"What do you want?" Natasha snapped into the phone. "And what took you so long? Finish up with your 'friend' first?"

"So Pepper is there?" Tony sounded desperate, raw. It gave Natasha pause. He didn't sound like someone who just cheated on his wife.

"Yes, and you better not be. Not until I can manage to forgive you. Do you know what you did to her?"

"I–I . . . please let me explain!" Was Tony _crying_?

"It's the middle of the night, Tony; I'm going to bed. Maybe some alone time will show you what you just gave up. Unless you're ex is still there." Nat's voice was cold; she had not a drop of pity for the billionaire.

"Well meet me tomorrow! At Gino's!" Gino's was a local bar, "Please, you have to let me explain."

"Why do you care if _I _believe you? I'm not exactly your favorite person, or your biggest fan."

"But you get people. You can tell if I'm lying and then tell Pepper! She'll listen to you!"

"No. You will have to convince Pepper yourself." Natasha sighed. Why was she agreeing to this? "But I'll come. You'd better have a good explanation." With that she hung up on him.


	3. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Natasha didn't need to face the door to watch for Tony. She took a sip of her beer. Tony had better hurry his freaking butt up. She'd had to deal with three drunks trying to hit on her. She would already have to explain this outing to Clint; she didn't want to have to also explain about the men she'd killed. Which is what she would do if anyone else tried to mess with her. She saw another one eyeing her, but Tony chose that moment to come in, so she went over to him.

"Tony! Haven't seen you 'round here in a while," shouted the barman, who looked as if, for every drink he sold, he had one himself. The large man nodded to Natasha, "Is this the new one? Baby," he said directly to Natasha, "tomorrow, when he dumps you, you know where to find me."

"Georgie, I'm married!" Tony shouted back to the barman.

'Georgie' just belched and waved a dismissive hand, "Never stopped you before."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, "'Never stopped you before?'"

Tony looked uncomfortable, "He never realized that _Pepper _is my wife."

"You brought Pepper here?" She gestured to the smelly, sweaty men; the sticky floor; and the drunken barman. "Nice taste. Every girl's dream date." She expected a famous Stark snarky comment but was greeted with only a sigh. _He must really be out of it, _she mused.

Natasha joined him at a small table. He opened his mouth to speak but she stopped him with a hand. "Tell me what happened. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"Right," he swallowed. "So I was asleep, with Pepper, when JARVIS woke me and said that someone was at the door. I didn't want to wake Pepper, so I left her and went to get the door."

"JARVIS didn't tell you that it was one of your exes?" Nat broke in.

"He's been programmed not to remember them, so they can't be, well, implicated in anything. He just said it was an intoxicated girl."

"And, of course, you can't resist one of those."

"No! I mean, yes! I mean, of course I can! I told Cindy-"

"Cindy? So you remember this one?" Natasha was not about to cut Tony any slack.

"I told her to go away, I'm married, but she passed out on the doorstep. I didn't want to leave her there. I knew what Pepper might think if she woke up and Cindy was downstairs, I don't think Pepper's forgotten a single one of my exes, but I knew that Pepper wouldn't leave her there either! So I carried her inside, to the guest bedroom-"

"Where you put her on the dresser and stuck your tongue down her throat."

"No! I put her on the bed and I told JARVIS to attend to her and I was on the way out the door when she woke up. She was drunk, and kept yelling. I tried to get her to quiet down but-"

"How'd she get on top of the dresser, right at lip level?"

"She jumped up there herself! She kept asking if I remembered when we were…together and she jumped on the dresser and said, 'Remember how you put me here?' and then she kissed me. That's when Pepper came in."

"She kissed you? Big strong Iron Man couldn't stop a drunk girl from kissing him?"

"I didn't have time!"

"Fine, say it did happen that way. What took you so long to call? You must have known she'd come to us."

"I didn't sleep with Cindy! I called her a cab and paid the guy to take her far away. I also looked everywhere for Pepper's ring, in case she'll ever take me back," he sighed and pulled said ring from his pocket. "Will you give it to her?"

"No. I told you, tell this to her yourself. Maybe she'll believe it."

"So you don't?"

He looked so dejected that she softened her demeanor a bit. She did believe him, she'd know if he was lying, but she still wanted Pepper to make the final judgment without any influence. He had made many mistakes. "Tony, Pepper is the one who needs to believe it. I know you love her and she still loves you, but you hurt her. You did many things wrong that, if done differently, would have changed the outcome. Give her time and she'll be willing to listen." Natasha, an abrupt person, stood and offered a few bills to Tony for her beer. He shook his head and waved her off. Shrugging, she started toward the door, noticing as she did that Tony ordered himself a drink. She hoped he wouldn't let this tip him back into the life of a drunk.

**A/N So, Natasha seems to believe Tony. Do you? Let me know if you think that Pepper should forgive him or not. I'm still up in the air. **


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N Here is the final (probably) chapter. I'm not sure I like the way it ends though. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks to Danyene for answering my question at the end of the last chapter. Sorry it took a bit to update, I was waiting for CrazyTrombonist251 to read it and let me know what he thought, but he hasn't yet and I got tired of waiting. **

CH.3

Clint walked up behind Natasha where she was standing in the kitchen. He'd just gotten back from the indoor archery range in the back of their house. She could tell because he was sweaty and his left arm was clenched, like it did after prolonged shooting.

He reached around her to give her a hug and pressed a kiss into her fiery hair. "Why do you smell like a third-rate bar?"

"Because I just came from one," she turned back to chopping vegetables, "Stark asked me to meet him so he could explain." She put the knife down and turned to look at him again, her eyes troubled, "Clint, I believe him. I really do."

"So, tell Pepper."

"I can't. If I tell her the truth then she trusts me, not Tony. The seed of doubt will still be there. If she makes the decision for herself, it means she really trusts him, and knows him well enough to be able to tell if he is lying." She picked up the knife and raised her voice to be heard over the chop-chop of the veggies, "Also, if I help Stark, he will come to me every time they argue. I'm not a patient person."

"Trust me, I've noticed," he picked up a carrot and popped it in his mouth, "And what so you know about trust in a relationship, anyway?"

"You mean besides ours?" she said dryly. "I may not be a love expert, but I understand people and their motives, Clint. Even Tony knows that."

Clint nabbed another carrot, choosing not to rise to her bait, "How much longer 'til you're done cooking, Nat? I hope you can make stir-fry better than you make steak," he teased as he walked into the living room and stretched on the couch.

"That was only one time!" She called to him. After a minute she heard the TV come on. Moving to the doorway, she asked, "Hey, where's Pepper? Is she eating with us?"

"Uh, she went home."

"Why?"

Clint picked up something dangerous in Tasha's voice. He looked over at where she stood leaning against the doorframe, still holding the vegetable knife. "Um, to pick up clothes . . . ?"

Nat sighed. Looked like it was out of her hands. Rolling her eyes at Clint, she turned back to the kitchen, twirling the knife.

~o0o~

Pepper turned the car off in her driveway. She almost turned the key again and drove away. She wasn't sure she could face Tony. She was afraid she would give in to him, and he would keep hurting and lying to her. She didn't want to think badly of him, but what was she supposed to think? Should she have even believed him when he said he'd changed?

Deciding she was _not _going to let Tony beat her, she determinedly got out of the car and opened the front door without knocking. It was her house after all.

Tony had turned the couch to face the door and has camped out there with a book. He jumped to his feet when Pepper came in, "Pep-"

"Don't, Tony. Just don't," she interrupted, "I love you, but don't think that's enough to keep me here when you're-" She couldn't finish the thought, but he answered as if she had.

"I wouldn't expect you to. But please let me tell you what happened. Or-" he added quickly when he saw how unlikely that was, "just get what you came for and remember that I have things I still need to say, when you are ready. Also, you can definitely have the house, JARVIS, everything."

"Tony," she sighed. "It was your house before you even met me."

"So? You took over the company; you married me, against everyone's advice; you put up with me even before . . . You deserve your own house."

"Is this a bribe, Tony? And, do you think I can live here without you? Do you think I can wake up in our bed without you? Knowing what you did?"

"But you won't let me tell you what I did!" he couldn't put into words his elation at her words 'our bed' and 'without you.'

"Fine," she snapped, "You get one chance. Don't waste it." She sat down on a chair across from the couch where he resettled himself.

He told her his story the same way he'd told it to Natasha (Pepper interrupted less) and when he finished he couldn't even look at her. He may not have been sleeping with his exes, but he still didn't deserve someone like Pepper. She was going to finally come to her senses and leave him for good.

He'd taken the ring out of his pocket and he now held it out to her half-heartedly. Pepper didn't even look at the ring. She just threw her arms around his neck and tried to hold back tears. How could she have thought all those things of him?

"Pep . . . Pepper?" he said into her neck.

She sniffed, "I'm sorry I didn't trust you, Tony. I should have let you explain."

"You needed time. The evidence _was _pretty overwhelming against me. Did Nat say anything to you?"

"What? No . . ." she said slowly, waiting for an explanation.

"I might've practiced my story on her this morning. She believed me, too, but I think she knew that you needed to hear it from me," he grabbed her hand and kissed her palm and, after shooting her a questioning look, he slid the ring on her finger, "I love you."

She didn't respond, she just kissed him, feeling that that was enough to express her love. She still felt bad about not listening to her husband, a fact she confessed to Natasha when she called her a few hours later to spill what happened. The assassin just commented that it wasn't surprising, Pepper's belief of Tony's guilt, given Tony's track record. Natasha knew that Pepper would have to get over it herself in her own way. And she did, with some help from Tony, who she managed to keep in bed with her that night and most to come.

**A/N So what do you think? I'm not sure how I feel 'bout the argument between Pepper and Tony. I rewrote it like three times. In one of them, Pepper was willing to listen right off the bat, but I wasn't sure if that's how she would really react. She seems more stubborn/argumentative. Please let me know if you think it could be better, I love reviews!**


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